Spain women’s boss Jorge Vilda has been sacked as manager as part of changes to the country’s set up in the wake of Luis Rubiales’ ‘kiss-gate’ scandal.

Vilda’s position has been controversial despite the coach leading Spain to a 1-0 win over England in the Women’s World Cup final last month.

The Spanish FA were urged to dismiss Vilda by their regional presidents’ committee last week, with the organisation facing mounting pressure over the controversy surrounding Rubiales, who is a close ally of the coach.

And Vilda has now been dismissed by Spain after a meeting with acting Spain FA president Pedro Rocha. Mail Sport understands Levante manager Sanchez Vera is one of the leading candidates to take over.

Rubiales has been provisionally suspended by FIFA and facing increasing pressure to resign after he kissed Jennifer Hermoso following the Women’s World Cup final.

Vilda also faced criticism for applauding Rubiales when the embattled Spanish FA chief had made a defiant speech insisting he would not resign, although the coach has since hit out at his conduct.

During the same speech at the end of last month, Rubiales hailed Vilda and offered to secure him a new four-year contract for his efforts with the team.

‘I have directed Andreu to start negotiations with you (Vilda) so that you can continue for the next four years earning half a million euros,’ Rubiales said.

‘I’m going to say it, now you were earning 170,000 euros, not half a million as they said. In women’s football, you are the best coach in the world,’

Marca reported earlier on Tuesday that Rocha would swing the axe on Vilda, who had been in the role since 2015 but divided the squad over his behaviour and coaching methods.

In September 2022, 15 Spain players wrote a letter to the Spanish FA refusing to play unless Vilda resigned, arguing that his reign was affecting their ’emotional state’ and amid talk of unprofessionalism.

Rubiales chose to back Vilda, who opted to select just three of the 15 players in his squad for the World Cup.

The protest against Vilda came amid reported he had banned players from locking their hotel rooms, carried out room checks, and went through their bags like ‘children’.

It has been claimed the decision to sack Vilda is be a ‘symbol’ of the changes promised by the Spanish FA in response to the Rubiales scandal.

Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh has emphasized the need to move Nigerian football to the next level and for concerted efforts to be in the interest of the game.

The minister made this known during a courtesy visit to his office by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) led by its president, Ibrahim Gusau, on Thursday.

The minister stated that “football is the biggest unifier of our nation, thus it is important to put the interest of the game ahead of personal interests, sentiments and pecuniary gains.”

“Nigerian football at all levels, both male and female deserves our attention, and this administration will work together with the NFF to plant the seeds of development and success that we all crave for, Enoh added.”

The minister stated that the ministry is willing to cooperate with the NFF to solve all pending issues in Nigerian football, for the sake of the country.

Speaking, NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau stated “I am happy to meet the cool gentleman assigned to the Ministry of Sports as our honourable minister. We look forward to working together with him. We are here primarily to congratulate him and welcome him to the arena of sports.”

Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller has claimed that Lionel Messi is the Greatest Player of All Time ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Messi vs Ronaldo debate has raged for many years, with fans divided on who, out of the Barcelona legend or the Real Madrid icon, was the better player.

Muller had his own say on the debate recently, and he claims Messi is the greater of the two players due to his ‘elegance’.

‘Who is the greatest of all time? The GOAT for me is Messi because he makes people say ‘I go to the stadium because of his elegance’ and at the same time he is very effective in scoring goals and achieving records and titles,’ Muller said speaking to DAZN.

‘Cristiano is also a strong candidate in two categories which are stats and titles, but Messi is simply more subtle and elegant.’

Some fans felt the GOAT debate had been settled after Messi lifted the World Cup in Qatar, given the fact Ronaldo crashed out of the competition after losing to Morocco.

Messi scored in each of Argentina’s knockout games, proving even at the age of 35 he still possessed that winning influence that has defined his wonderful career. He also netted twice in a final with France to lift the trophy.

Fans and pundits alike clamoured to acclaim Messi and proclaim the great debate over. It wasn’t about Ronaldo anymore, the more pertinent debate was comparing Messi to Pele and Maradona as the all-time GOAT.

As it stands, Messi (720) has scored more goals than Ronaldo (715) at club level. It’s important to remember that Ronaldo has played two more seasons than the Argentine and currently represents Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Messi is leading the race when it comes to assists. He has registered 342 compared to Ronaldo’s 226.

Messi has also scored more World Cup goals and made more World Cup appearances. However, Ronaldo has featured more times in the Champions League and found the back of the net more times in the showpiece tournament.

Finally, Messi has also won more individual awards and titles than Ronaldo. However, Ronaldo has won the league in three different countries (England, Spain and Italy).

So, it appears the debate is still in full swing and will continue until the two icons retire from professional football.